


Tournament of Heroines

by dars



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: AU, Gen, Girl Power, Nostalgia, tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:49:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22784359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dars/pseuds/dars
Summary: When some of the fiercest fighters of Jump City find themselves suddenly thrust into a tournament to find out who the strongest truly is, a number of things could go wrong. Friendships could be put to the test, rivalries intensified. It is up to the players to fight for victory, all while playing into the hands of the strange and charismatic show runner, who seems more than pleased to see them doing so.
Kudos: 3





	Tournament of Heroines

The two girls sat across the table from each other, one reading a book, the other smiling in an attempted attention grab. After a long moment, the one reading sighed, not bothering to look up from the pages in front of her.

"You're breaking my concentration, Starfire."

Starfire took this as an invitation, leaning across the table and resting her chin in her hands.

"Wonderful! Would you like to go for a park walk? Oh! Or a lake swim?"

It hadn't ever made sense to Raven how, exactly, the language thing worked. Kiss a person to understand them, but apparently only barely. Despite having been friends for several years now, Starfire still phrased things strangely, still asked questions. Part of her wondered if she'd just used the language as an excuse to kiss Robin; Starfire _was_ notoriously impulsive and thrill-seeking, after all, and on a strictly observant level, Raven could see how someone could be attracted to Robin. If they could get around the god complex and the tights, that is.

"Uh, no," she said with honesty. She'd intended to return to her book, but a polished fingernail blocked her view as Starfire slowly tapped against it's surface. When their eyes met, she could see that Starfire's were filled with their usual... whatever you'd call it. Childlike innocence? Hope for humanity?

She breathed a quick, " _What?_ " before Starfire- quite melodramatically- leaned away from her in feigned anguish.

"I am so _bored!_ And the boys are-"

"Going to be back soon-" Raven interjected; Starfire continued nonetheless, "and the two of us almost never- how does Beastboy say... _chill_?"

Raven waited to see if the other girl had any more to say. She didn't; just stared at Raven in wait. 

Starfire had a knack for getting what she wanted, and to be fair, usually what she wanted wasn't anything terrible or difficult. And though she was grating on Raven's nerves- ever the talker while Raven may have been the world's biggest introvert- she had to admit that being surrounded by her friend's eternal optimism had its good moments. If nothing else, Starfire always made sure to make Raven feel like she was wanted, like she belonged.

"Fine. The park sounds... nice, actually."

Starfire shrieked with approval, standing up and taking flight over the table, snagging Raven's hand and dragging her through the halls.

"We must get ready at once!" she chimed. Several times, Raven tried gently reminding Starfire that she knew the way to her room perfectly fine, and that she didn't need an escort, but Starfire didn't seem to pay her any attention.

"We shall have the ice cream while we walk!" she decided while they waited in the elevator. Raven just tried to suppress a smile.

Eventually, they wound up at Raven's bedroom door.

"Your lair of secrets," Starfire said. Raven smirked.

"Damn right. I'll meet you back in the kitchen."

Starfire flashed her a thumbs up before bolting towards her own room to get ready. Raven waited until she'd rounded the corner before she opened her door and stepped inside. If there was anyone in this world she would've ever been comfortable allowing in her room, it would've probably been Star, but even that seemed like a little too much to handle when she considered it. Not that she was hiding anything, necessarily. Raven was just a private person, and a guarded one. Her room was where she slept. Her room was where she kept her things. Her room was the only place in the entire world that she could absolutely call her own. Letting someone waltz into it would've felt too much like letting them read her diary.

She looked at herself in the mirror, sized herself up. She was pale, especially in the dull lighting, almost illuminated silver. Her dark hair fell in a bob around her, and, though she hadn't meant to be, she was scowling. She tried to lighten her expression, to copy a pose that Star might've made: hand on the hip, cheesy smile, squinted eyes. Then she realized she looked ridiculous, returned to her scowl, and turned for her closet to get dressed. 

Only when she turned, she realized she was no longer in her room. Actually, she wasn't even in the tower anymore. She was standing in the midst of an expansive room, all gray on all accounts. The floors were tiled and shiny, the walls thick concrete. There wasn't a single window, and the artificial lights hanging a couple stories above made Raven think it could've very well been an abandoned warehouse store of some sort.

It was only then that she realized she wasn't alone. All around her, familiar faces began to appear. Bumblebee, Pantha, Jinx, and thankfully Starfire. A couple of them put her on edge immediately: she recognized Blackfire just as soon as she blinked into existence, chin raised into the air as if she wasn't just as shocked as the rest of them to be there, and Cheshire loomed behind them all, hidden as always beneath that mask that had always unnerved Raven. When Terra appeared, Raven pulled on her hood to hide the contempt that burned across her features, kept her glance downward even as the others started to speak.

She'd tried to warn them. All of them. Terra was a loose cannon, and that coming from Raven meant a lot. She only ever hurt those who got close to her and, despite Raven's best efforts, she'd ultimately been forced to watch as Terra shattered Beastboy into a million pieces over and over again. When she left, when she joined Slade, when she nearly died, when Raven had spent weeks healing her, when she promised not to leave ever again, and then did. Each time the pieces of Beastboy were harder to pick up, harder to put back together, and still even now, Raven hadn't gotten through to him that Terra wasn't worth it. Love was just as evil as it was kind, she'd learned.

"Raven? Where are we?" Starfire said, hooking her arm through the one closest to her.

"I dunno," she said silently.

"Congratulations!" a thunderous voice boomed. It took the girls a moment to find him, standing in a space Raven swore had been unoccupied only seconds before, but there he was. He was unnaturally tall- at least eight or nine feet- and his skin was tinted gray. He was all broad-chested and square-chinned; he looked like some kind of strange science experiment gone wrong, Raven decided. As if one of those Hollywood heartthrobs from Cyborg's movies had merged with a cement block. He wore a golden amulet around his neck and it glistened in the harsh light.

"The eight of you have been selected to participate in the first ever _Tournament of Heroines!_ " 

"A tournament?" 

The voice was Terra's. Raven instinctively rolled her eyes.

"Yes! We've brought all the best fighters Jump City has to offer together to find out which- if any- is the absolute strongest! There will be prizes, of course. Winner take all."

Bumblebee was the next one who spoke, voice clear and unafraid, just as always.

"And who are you, exactly?"

The gray man laughed, his voice rough as sandpaper. He placed his over-sized hands onto his hips. 

"I am the Master of Games. Think of me as your host, your referee, what have you. I'll be overseeing the fights to make sure no rules are broken, and only the best man- er, woman- moves on each round!"

Though Raven was still unsure, Starfire seemed to be growing more comfortable as the gray man explained. Her grip on Raven loosened a slight bit, her features no longer quite as strained. Most of the others seemed intrigued as well. One of them even asked what the winner's prize was.

"Now, don't you go spoiling all the fun. Everything will be revealed in good time. Trust me, it's to die for. Plus, who doesn't want the bragging rights?"

This was wrong. She already didn't trust half the people standing around her, and she was rapidly deciding that she didn't trust the gray man much, either. The first second she had alone with Starfire, she'd convince her to leave. If the others wanted to stay, that was their choice, but there was something wrong here.

Then again, leaving wouldn't have exactly the most _heroic_ thing- she'd certainly get an earful from Robin if he were to find out about it. She clenched her teeth. Maybe leaving wasn't a good idea, after all.

"What happens if we lose?" Raven asked, trying her best to ignore the feeling of everyone's eyes on her. 

"You're escorted home, of course! In the meantime, you'll be sleeping here, at the Hall of Champions."

The idea that they got to go home was somewhat soothing; perhaps it had just been because they'd been brought there against their will, but Raven had sort of figured they wouldn't be able to leave quite so easily. Still, regardless. You can't just go around teleporting people into empty warehouses and asking them to fight each other. They might get the wrong idea.

"Any more questions, or are we ready to get this thing started?" The gray man asked. When no one responded, he smiled. Raven hoped he didn't laugh again; the sound was almost akin to blending gravel to her, like nails scraping against a chalkboard. Too similar to another voice she longed to forget. Luckily, she got her wish; when his lips parted, there was no laughter.

"Excellent. Your training begins immediately." Just as he finished the words, he phased out of existence like a glitch: a smear of color and then he was gone.


End file.
